Five GVSU track athletes compete at national meet - Holland, MI - The Holland Sentinel
Allendale, MI —

Karie McDonald led five Grand Valley State University student-athletes at the U.S. Track & Field Championships last weekend.

McDonald earned a third-place finish in the 3000-meter steeplechase with a time of 11 minutes, 12.77 seconds.

Monica Kinney was the only other runner on the women’s side, and she took a sixth-place finish in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:34.26.

Nicole Bush recovering from fracture at USA meet - Grand Rapids, Michigan Sports News – MLive.com
Nicole Bush recovering from fracture at USA meet
by Steve Ungrey | The Grand Rapids Press
Friday July 03, 2009, 9:00 AM

Nicole Bush raced stride-for-stride with the leaders during last week’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, a race she had run dozens of times before.

She was competing in the USA Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore. Bush kept a fast pace in her lane and made the leaps over the regular barriers with no problems.

Then came the water barrier, which the former standout at Kelloggsville and Michigan State had jumped over so many times she had it memorized.

There was one problem. Someone hadn’t properly set the height.

After a few days to gather her thoughts and face a recovery period, Bush reflected on the fateful race and what it would mean to her future on a national and world level.

Bush said she thought something felt odd when she leaped over the water barrier, one of five barriers (one water and four regular) placed on the steeplechase course.

“I just knew something was wrong,” Bush said. “Something seemed odd but I just didn’t put my finger on it. My right ankle gave out and it caused me to fall.”

She’s a real class act - Daily Tribune: Breaking news coverage for southeastern Oakland County, Michigan
HUNTINGTON WOODS - How’s this for a winning equation: Outstanding student plus accomplished athlete equals success.

“I’ve always loved math,” said Michelle Lapin, a recent Berkley High School grad. “It has always clicked with me.”

She is intent on building on her love of mathematics. She will attend the University of Michigan and is interested in becoming an architect.

She hammered together an impressive high school career as a student-athlete.

She was one of 13 Class A scholarship recipients of the 2008-09 Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) Scholar Athlete-Award. Farm Bureau Insurance, in its 20th year of sponsoring the MHSAA award, gave a $1,000 college scholarship to 32 individuals who represented their member school in at least one sport in which the MHSAA sponsors a post-season tournament.

Also earning scholarships in Class A were De La Salle’s Kieran Scott and Patrick Vaughn.

New Haven’s Christopher Hessell was a Class C scholarship recipient.

Lapin earned four letters in cross country and track and field, and two in figure skating. She captained both the cross country and figure skating teams her senior year. She was all-league in cross country and track and field for three years. She qualified for the state meet in track in three of her four seasons. Lapin also co-founded the school’s figure skating team, and made the state finals in that sport as a junior.